Rutherford Falls – 2 seasons streaming on Peacock.
The first season of this now-cancelled sitcom was focused on co-creator Ed Helms’ character, Nathan Rutherford, the last local heir to the namesake of the small town of Rutherford Falls where it’s set. Comedy was focused on attempts by the mayor of the town to move a statue of the Rutherford who founded the place back in the 19th Century. Nathan’s best friend, Reagan, played by Jana Schmieding, is a Native American from the fictional Minishonka Nation which was there before any Rutherford. The second season follows Reagon’s complicated and sometimes amusing love life, with Helms reduced to a smaller role. Meanwhile Minishonka casino boss Terry is pushing non-binary 21-year-old Bobbie to win an election as the new mayor, while Nathan is fathering a child with the old mayor, who may or may not have a longer relationship with him. It’s kind of charming, occasionally funny, occasionally not quite thought out in terms of plot. A show worth watching if only for it being one of the few with Native American leads.
Rome – 2 seasons streaming on HBO Max.
I remember watching this series the old-fashioned way, every Sunday night at whatever time it aired back in 2005 and 2006. Having recently read a biography of Cicero, whose character kinda sorta appears in the TV show, I decided to rewatch the whole thing over the last three weeks. Chunks of the first season seemed familiar to me, but I wonder if we skipped the second season entirely, as I didn’t recognize a single plot point or new character introduction. At any rate, this was a lavish production, with the HBO standbys of graphic violence and lots of nudity. (I’m fairly sure every adult female with more than two speaking lines appears naked at least once, and there is a famous full frontal shot of James Purefoy, too.) The first season is better than the second, as it leads up to (spoiler alert) the death of Julius Caesar. Non-rich characters Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pollo manage, like Forrest Gump, to be involved in pretty much every major historical event, but we don’t mind because Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson are so great in the roles. The series roughly follows Caesar’s rise and fall, then Octavian (the future Augustus) in his battle for complete power with Marc Antony. Another spoiler alert: by the end of two seasons, only five characters introduced in the first episode are still alive (not counting three children who don’t matter all that much).
The Patient – Ten episodes streaming on Hulu.
Steve Carell likes to show off his acting range to those who still think of him, thanks to a constant presence in reruns of The Office, as a comedian. Here, he is a recently widowed therapist kidnapped by a patient, held prisoner in the basement of the suburban house of said patient’s mother, and forced by threats to “fix” the urges towards serial killing which the patient can’t resist. The success of the show depends on Carell’s ability to convey a combination of fear and horror with some level of concern for Sam, the guy who desperately wants to live a more normal life. Domnhal Gleeson plays Sam, presumably because Adam Driver has aged out of a role that was probably written with him in mind. There is a strained parallel between Sam, whose problem was in part caused by a horrible relationship with his father, and Carell’s character Dr. Strauss, who hasn’t gotten along with his own son since that young man converted to Orthodox Judaism from the Reformed version. Plenty of tension, and the story doesn’t ever bore. Be prepared with tissues, but try not to let somebody else offer them to you.
Bad Sisters – 10 episodes streaming on Apple TV+.
At the beginning of this series, we meet an insurance agent and his half-brother who are desperate to avoid paying off a life insurance policy on a recently deceased gentleman in Ireland. Then we learn that the dead guy’s wife has four sisters, and the suspicion is that one of these women killed him. Over the course of ten episodes, jumping frequently between the present day and past events, we learn that the late Jean-Paul was about as awful a human being (short of being an actual murderer) as has been presented on TV. The insurance guy’s brother falls into a relationship with one of the sisters, just to complicate things further. Almost every episode teases us into thinking this was the way JP (as everybody called the asshole) died, but we don’t find out the whole story until the end. The cast, which includes Sharon Horgan from the excellent British sitcom Catastrophe, and Eve Hewson, whose father is the lead singer for U2, ya know, is uniformly terrific. I wonder how the show would hold up to a binge viewing – it was enormously effective at getting me to tune in every Friday night to see what would be revealed next.